1. Field
The present invention is directed to an LED light module that can be removably coupled thermally and electrically to a heat sink or lighting assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Lighting assemblies such as ceiling lights, recessed lights, and track lights are important fixtures in many homes and places of business. Such assemblies are used not only to illuminate an area, but often also to serve as a part of the decor of the area. However, it is often difficult to combine both form and function into a lighting assembly without compromising one or the other.
Traditional lighting assemblies typically use incandescent bulbs. Incandescent bulbs, while inexpensive, are not energy efficient, and have a poor luminous efficacy. To address the shortcomings of incandescent bulbs, there is a movement to use more energy-efficient and longer lasting sources of illumination, such as fluorescent bulbs, high-intensity discharge (HID) bulbs, and light emitting diodes (LEDs). Fluorescent bulbs and HID bulbs require a ballast to regulate the flow of power through the bulb, and thus can be difficult to incorporate into a standard lighting assembly. Accordingly, LEDs, formerly reserved for special applications, are increasingly being considered as a light source for more conventional lighting assemblies.
LEDs offer a number of advantages over incandescent, fluorescent, and HID bulbs. For example, LEDs produce more light per watt than incandescent bulbs, LEDs do not change their color of illumination when dimmed, and LEDs can be constructed inside solid cases to provide increased protection and durability. LEDs also have an extremely long life span when conservatively run, sometimes over 100,000 hours, which is twice as long as the best fluorescent and HID bulbs and twenty times longer than the best incandescent bulbs. Moreover, LEDs generally fail by a gradual dimming over time, rather than abruptly burning out, as do incandescent, fluorescent, and HID bulbs. LEDs are also desirable over fluorescent bulbs due to their decreased size, lack of need for a ballast, and their ability to be mass produced and easily mounted onto printed circuit boards.
While LEDs have various advantages over incandescent, fluorescent, and HID bulbs, the widespread adoption of LEDs has been hindered by the challenge of how to properly manage and disperse the heat that LEDs emit. The performance of an LED often depends on the ambient temperature of the operating environment, such that operating an LED in an environment having a moderately high ambient temperature can result in overheating the LED and premature failure of the LED. Moreover, operation of an LED for an extended period of time at an intensity sufficient to fully illuminate an area may also cause an LED to overheat and prematurely fail.
Accordingly, high-output LEDs require direct thermal coupling to a heat sink device in order to achieve the advertised life expectancies from LED manufacturers. This often results in the creation of an LED sub-assembly that is not upgradeable or replaceable within a given lighting assembly. For example, LEDs are traditionally permanently coupled to a heat dissipating fixture housing, requiring the end-user to discard the entire lighting assembly after the end of the LED's usable life or if there should be a malfunction of the LED.
Additionally, conventional LED light assemblies that are removable generally engage a lighting assembly with exposed electrical contacts, which can be inadvertently touched by a user. Such exposed electrical contacts can pose a safety risk to users where the voltage provided to the LED assembly is high (e.g., 110V line voltage).
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved LED light module that addresses at least one of the drawbacks of conventional LED assemblies noted above.